In 2011 accepting a transfer quarterback from the ACC worked out well for Wisconsin when Russell Wilson helped lead the team to its second consecutive Rose Bowl and a victory in the first Big Ten Championship Game. Now it looks like the Badgers may be looking to take that route once again in 2012.

Former Maryland quarterback Danny O'Brien has said already that he'd consider Wisconsin when he transfers.

What is likely to increase Wisconsin's interest in O'Brien, aside from his ability, is that quarterback Jon Budmayr suffered a setback in his recovery from an elbow issue that has been bothering him last summer. An issue that puts Budmayr's future as a quarterback in serious doubt, and leaves the Badgers without a lot of depth at the quarterback position right now.

The situation is desperate enough that the Badgers are expected to make a strong push to land O’Brien, who announced he is transferring after the spring semester and has expressed interest in UW.

A UW source indicated the Badgers would like to get O’Brien, but Bielema declined comment when asked about the chance of bringing in an outside quarterback.

O'Brien graduates from Maryland this spring, so just like Russell Wilson, he won't have to sit out a year before being able to suit up with the Badgers. Which is important for Wisconsin as adding O'Brien would make them the clear favorite in the Big Ten's Leaders Division as Ohio State isn't eligible for postseason play in 2012.

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Cal quarterback Zach Maynard really enjoyed passing to Keenan Allen last season, but he's not going to be able to this spring.

Cal announced in a press release on Wednesday afternoon that the team's leading receiver in 2011, Allen, won't be participating in spring practice this year thanks to an ankly injury. While the release did not go into specifics on Allen's ankle injury, it did say that he'll be undergoing surgery on the ankle on Thursday.

The good news is that head coach Jeff Tedford also said that Allen would "be back for summer workouts and fully recovered for the season."

Of course, while that's good news for Cal, Allen not being around this spring could be bad news for the aforementioned Maynard. After an up-and-down season in 2011, Maynard enters spring practice competing with Zach Kline for the starting quarterback job. Kline is a highly-touted member of Cal's latest recruiting class.

Having a receiver like Allen around, whom Maynard is very comfortable with, would help his chances in the quarterback battle this spring.

Allen led Cal with 98 receptions, 1,343 receiving yards and 6 touchdown catches in 2011 as a sophomore.

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The NCAA adopted rule changes on kickoffs for the 2012 season with the hope of reducing injuries, but not everybody thinks that will be the case. Colorado head coach Jon Embree can see a situation where the new rules may lead to even more injuries on kickoffs than before.

The new rule has kickoffs coming from the 35-yard line rather than the 30, in hopes that more kicks will go through the end zone and lead to a touchback. Coverage teams will only be allowed a 5-yard head start in 2012 as well. Rules that, theoretically, should reduce injuries.

"I think you high pooch it and cover it," Embree said. "What I think will happen is if you get effective at that, you're putting the other team even more at risk than what the rule intended because unless he fair catches it, he can really take a shot because everyone is closer obviously.

"It will be interesting to see how that plays out. If you get a guy who can kick it to the 7-yard line every time, you can mishandle it and then you will have collisions. It will be interesting to see if they tweak this rule over time. The returner has to have good judgment and a good feel. You're never used to fair catching kickoffs, even though that is something you can do. There are a lot of timing issues that go into a kickoff return that now you're going to have to figure out as a return guy."

It will be interesting to see if Embree's theory is right this fall, and whether or not coaches will adapt to the rule as he suggests they will, or if they prefer booting the ball through the end zone and taking the risk of a touchdown return out of play.

Whatever the new kickoff rules lead to, we won't know for sure until, well, kickoff.

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It seems that Oklahoma can't escape the injuries that dogged the team throughout 2011.

After missing a large portion of the 2011 season thanks to a broken arm, center Ben Habern had to undergo neck surgery last week. The injury is not considered career-threatening, but neck surgery is never something to be taken lightly, and Habern will miss spring practice because of it.

The good news for Oklahoma is that the team is prepared to deal with Habern's absence since it already dealt with it through most of the year. Gabe Ikard will once again slide over from guard to center while Adam Shead will get more playing time at guard during the spring.

Unfortunately for the Sooners, Habern won't be the only player missing spring practice.

Dominique Whaley, who missed the last half of the season after breaking his ankle in October, will not be back this spring. He continues to recover from the injury and the team does expect him back in time to practice in August.

Then there's receiver Jaz Reynolds who suffered a kidney injury late in the year. The team isn't sure whether or not he'll be ready to participate with them this spring.

Oklahoma's spring practice begins on March 5th.

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Al Golden and Miami got some good news about the Hurricanes defense in 2012 on Friday. It was announced that senior linebacker Ramon Buchanan had been granted a medical hardship waiver, and will be allowed to play for one more season.

Buchanan played the first four games of the season for the Hurricanes before suffering a knee injury that ended his season against Bethune-Cookman on October 1st. Before the injury Buchanan had made 18 tackles, 2 for a loss, and had also blocked a kick.

In his career Buchanan has started 15 of the 39 games he's played in, making 106 tackles with 13.5 for a loss.

Miami was prepared to move into 2012 with only 6 starters returning on a defense that allowed only 20.1 points per game in 2011, good enough to rank the Hurricanes 18th in the country in that stat. With Buchanan joining the fray it should help Miami's chances of maintaining that success on defense, which it will need to do considering only 4 starters will be returning on offense.

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As West Virginia gears up for its first Orange Bowl in program history on January 4 against Clemson, it will have to do so without its leading rusher. Freshman tailback Dustin Garrison injured the ACL and MCL in his left knee on Friday, according to the WVU athletic department. The torn ligaments will require surgery and six months of rehabilitation.

Garrison tallied 742 yards and six touchdowns on the season, and the next-highest rusher for the Mountaineers is junior tailback Shawne Alston, who has 77 rushes for 339 yards and two scores on the year. Freshman running backs Vernard Roberts and Andrew Buie have also seen limited action for the Mountaineers, but their carries have largely dried up as the season has gone on.

Moreover, West Virginia's strength lies mainly in its passing game, and the Mountaineers' ACC-leading aerial assault should be at full strength for the game. QB Geno Smith has led West Virginia to 35 points a game and over 340 passing yards per game, so as long as that personnel remains in place, the loss of Garrison shouldn't be too devastating for the Mountaineers. But still, this is the loss of a leading rusher we're talking about, so unplanned adjustments will have to be made over the next few days.

Baylor and Texas Tech spent the first 30 minutes of their game trading touchdowns, but in between those score Baylor quarterback Robert Griffin took a few blows as well. In particular, one forearm to the head as he slid that caused his helmet to bounce off the turf. Griffin had to leave the game for a play before coming back in and running for a touchdown on his first play back.

Well, there must be something more to the injury, because when the Baylor Bears came out for the second half, junior Nick Florence was under center and Griffin was standing on the sideline. While Baylor wouldn't go into details, it did say he's out for the rest of the game.

There has been no official word on Griffin's injury from the Baylor sideline, but given the blow to the head in the first half, you have to believe that Griffin may be suffering from a concussion.

Which, aside from being a huge blow to Griffin and Baylor, would also be a blow to Griffin's Heisman candidacy. He accounted for 168 total yards and 3 touchdowns in the first half.

When we hear anything further about Griffin's injury, we'll let you know.

We're only a few days away from what could be the final Lonestar Showdown between Texas A&M and Texas, and at the moment Mike Sherman and the Aggies aren't exactly clear on who their running back is going to be. Texas A&M lost Christine Michael to a torn ACL against Oklahoma a few weeks ago, and Cyrus Gray hurt his shoulder during a 61-7 win over Kansas.

So in a matter of two weeks the Aggies have gone from possibly having two thousand yard rushers in their backfield against Texas to facing the possibility of having Ben Malena and Will Randolph in the backfield. Randolph hadn't played a snap all season until Saturday when Mike Sherman had to burn his redshirt following Gray's injury.

Considering that fractured bones don't heal in 72 hours, I'm guessing that means whether Gray plays or not will depend on how much pain he's willing to play through. Because, make no mistake about it, having a stress fracture in your shoulder isn't going to feel very good when you're playing running back and being hit repeatedly.

If Gray can't play on Thursday, he should be healed in time to play in Texas A&M's bowl game.